Rivers-bringsin two
million tons of dissolved
minerals, accountingfor the
lake's salinity, now fallen
from above 20 to below 6
percent in the south arm.
Duringthe pastglacial
age, inflow exceeded
evaporation,and about
16,000 years ago water rose
to its maximum, forming
Lake Bonneville (below
left). When Mormon
settlers arrivedin 1847, the
lake stood at 4,200 feet
elevation. By 1873 it had
risen to its historic high of
4,211.6, causingBrigham
Young to propose spilling
its waters into the desert,
an idea revived today.
When the lake sank to its
historic low in 1963, some
Utahns believed it would
dry up. But wet winters and
cool, cloudy summers have
since put it on the rise,
increasingits surface area
from 900 square miles to
2,300 square miles. Some
experts see a rise to an
elevation of 4,217 feet as a
conceivable high in the near
future; that level occurred
in the late 1600s, judging by
flooded Indiancampsites.
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